


More than a Hallmark Holiday

by charmedtomeetyou



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 22:51:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5983312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmedtomeetyou/pseuds/charmedtomeetyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David realizes it's February 14th - Valentine's Day, in this realm - and wants to do something special for his lost princess of a daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	More than a Hallmark Holiday

**Author's Note:**

> Just some Daddy!Charming fluffity fluff for this fluffiest of holiday seasons.

They never tell you how damn confusing it is to have two lives swimming around in your head.

Then again there really isn’t a _they_ to tell you anything, since no one else in this realm or any other has experienced the ridiculous fallout of a dark curse before.

(He really should go slap Regina again, just to remind her that while her reform is appreciated, her idiotic past decisions are not forgotten.)

David walks from the loft toward Granny’s, ready to fuel up on caffeine for what promises to be a dull but _long_ day of filing at the sheriff’s station, when he realizes the date.

February 14.

In this realm it’s what they call _Valentine’s Day_ , a celebration of love filled with flowers and candy and inordinately large teddy bears. David remembers buying such things for Catherine, even remembers getting something for Snow as well during the unfortunate ~~affair~~ overlap between this life and the last.

But what he’s never gotten to do is celebrate with his little girl.

It’s a confusing thought to have – because were she to have really been _his_ little girl, were she to have grown up as her Royal Highness Princess Emma, Valentine’s Day wouldn’t have existed. Sure, she would damn well have known she was loved every single day. She would have grown up in a _castle_ that had a _staff_ which ensured fresh flowers were on display every day of the year. She would have had full access to a kitchen and a chef who could whip up any form of chocolatey goodness she could dream of.

(And actually, she would have grown up with _magic_ and probably could have conjured any of these things on all her own – after all _nobody saves Emma but herself_ , and surely the same goes for spoiling her.)

But she didn’t grow up Princess Emma. She grew up an orphan, all alone in this world. She didn’t even get the luxury of living in a mindless loop the way the rest of the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest did when they were transported to Storybrooke. No, Emma had to forge her own way, feeling unloved for the bulk of 28 full years on this Earth.

That’s at least _24_ Valentine’s Day with no flowers, no teddy bears, probably not a single note of affection besides the little pre-boxed ones the kids are required to exchange with one another in class (Mary Margaret made her own each year, of course. And, gods, imagine what kinds of beautiful things she and Emma could have made together).

David veers left, caffeine all but forgotten, now determined to stop at the drug store.

It’s an explosion of pink and red as he walks in the door, chubby babies with heart-shaped arrows strung from the ceiling and tins of chocolate piled so high the rest of the store is nearly invisible. David grabs for a box of chocolate-covered cherries, knowing it’s one of Mary Margaret’s weaknesses. And he quickly notices a tiny stuffed horse perfect for his little Prince Neal – sure to grow up to be brave as a knight.

But he’s no idea what to get his entirely grownup, kickass _Princess_.

Hook’s certainly been informed of the holiday by Henry – Killian’s acclimation into this realm has been bumpier than the rest of theirs considering he _doesn’t_ have the ~~unfortunate addition~~ luxury of a secondary persona, but Henry has been more than enthusiastic about teaching him (Henry takes after his grandmother, it seems). So the flowers and candy have probably been covered.

(And as his eyes rake over a display of fluffy, sheer undergarments he decidedly _does not_ think about anything else Hook is or is not covering.)

David all but _runs_ away from that particular display, physically shaking his head to knock loose his thoughts, when he runs into yet _another_ display of stuffed animals.

And that’s when he sees the perfect gift for Emma

-

He arrives at the station only four minutes late, which is an achievement considering the long line of procrastinating former fairy tale lovers at the drug store checkout.

Emma rolls her eyes from behind her computer as soon as she sees the big red bag in his hand. “Oh, Dad, please don’t tell me you’re caught up in the Hallmark Holiday, too! I assumed you’d have more sense than that.”

David eyes Emma’s desk, the (admittedly quite impressive) display of yellow flowers serving as proof enough that her boyfriend had indeed gotten the Valentine’s Day memo.

“You assumed Prince Charming was going to miss out on a holiday dedicated to True Love? You wound me, Emma.” David clutches his hands against his chest in mock horror, rolling his eyes and smiling at his daughter.

(That their relationship can be so easy after the life she’s had – it’s a testament to a strength within her that he and her mother can take no credit for.)

(But he reminds himself to appreciate it _every_ day.)

“I have, of course, gotten your mother and baby brother a little something to mark the day.” He pulls out their gifts and Emma rolls her eyes but smiles – sure, she still has a bit of that prickly exterior on her, but he knows his daughter is mushy on the inside (it runs in the family).

Emma quirks her eyebrow, using her excellent detective skills to ascertain there’s something left in that bag – that’s more than likely for her.

“And?” she questions, clearly using all of her energy to look annoyed.

But that doesn’t stop David from veering into _sincere_ territory. “You never got to be my _duckling_ before you became a _Swan_. And honestly I didn’t even get the chance to _miss_ you, for all those years I didn’t know you existed.” David pauses, stepping toward her and extending the fluffy stuffed yellow duck clutching a heart between its little wings.

“I don’t care that today isn’t much more than a marketing ploy. And I don’t care that you should never have lived in this land in the first place, that none of us should have. Truth is that we did. It’s still a day you had to live through _alone_ for too many years. But not today. And not ever again.”

Emma’s face falls, her careful air of disinterest melting away as her eyes start glistening. She reaches out to take the duck and before David can truly react, she’s shuffling backward and (not-so) discreetly wiping at her eyes.

David worries for the briefest moment that she’s truly offended, that maybe there’s some terrible story from her childhood where kids taunted her with ducks or maybe a duck attacked her or maybe Neal left her on Valentine’s Day or something else truly horrible that would cause scars he would absolutely have no knowledge of.

But then she’s displaying her stuffed toy beside her giant mass of flowers and she’s opening her desk drawer and tossing a little box at David and his reflexes are barely fast enough to catch it.

He stands stunned for a moment, Emma staring at him like something is just _so_ very funny, before he looks down to register what’s in his hand.

It’s a box of Sweetheart conversation hearts – Disney-themed, nonetheless – with a cartoon depiction of Snow White and her Prince on the cover. He flips the box over to see a messily scrawled, “ _To Dad; Love, Emma._ ”

“You’re so cheesy, dad,” she giggles, reaching out to stroke her little duck. _Maybe she’ll give it a name?_

“Yeah, well, so are you,” he jokes, yanking open the candy box and letting a few hearts spill into his palm. “Candy?” he offers.

She walks toward him slowly, bending forward to kiss his cheek before snagging a heart and popping it into her mouth.

“You didn’t even read the message, Emma,” he says in his best _dad_ voice. “You’re missing the point!”

She shakes her head and smiles as she sits down at her computer once again (work awaits, after all). “No, I think I understand just fine.”


End file.
